The shortage of family doctors in the city of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, has increased by nearly 60% in over a year.

The news comes shortly after the release of a report showing that the doctor’s shortage in Canada has improved for the first time in 20 years. Figures from Hamilton, however, show that the report is only a national average and cannot be seen as a faithful portrait of the whole country, where people continue to struggle with the lack of doctors.

 Hamilton is currently short 51 family doctors, compared with 32 in September 2008, with the Stoney Creek area suffering the most, in desperate need of at least 19 more doctors.

According to an official report from the Canadian Institute for Health Information, there are only 75 doctors per 100,000 population in the Hamilton Niagara Haldim and Brant Local Health Integration Network. 

Ontario has an average of 86 doctors per 100,000 people, one of the worst ratios in the country. The national average is currently sitting at 101. 

Between 2004 and 2008, the number of practicing doctors in Canada, including  family doctors and specialists, increased by 8%, while the population grew 4.3%. This resulted in an increase of the ration of doctors per head of the population, taking the national average up to 195. In Ontario, however, the number stayed at 177, as the increase in the number of doctors in the province (4.4%) was almost the same as the increase in population (4.1%).

The chronicle shortage of doctors in Ontario is being addressed by the local government, as they work on ways to attract doctors to the region. As for Hamilton, the city is planning to send another letter to the government about the shortage, demanding that they are designated underserviced, so that they can better compete with other regions with the same designation who are trying to recruit doctors.